“Schoolmasters to his Race”: Political Metaphor of the Transnational Circulation of Ideas of Racial Inclusion in the Early Twentieth Century

ABSTRACT This article analyzes aspects of José Eutrópio (1886-1929) biography as a starting point to examine the transnational circulation of ideas on racial inclusion in the early twentieth century. In dialogue with other Black intellectuals from the Western world, the Brazilian educator studied different currents of racial theories and the multiple expressions of racial ideologies that were in circulation at the time. These formulations were appropriated as political-intellectual resources for the development of educational principles aimed at formal education in Brazil. The article investigates these historical processes, examining how the school became a central metaphor in the civil and political rights debates of transnational Black Movements. Additionally, it analyzes the historicity of racism in formal education and the processes of formulating educational strategies to combat this social marker.